US gunships pound Falluja

Heavy fighting broke out last night for the second day running in the Iraqi city of Falluja. US marines, joined by AC130 gunships, pounded the Golan neighbourhood of the city in what American military sources said was a response to firing by insurgents.

Television pictures showed two large fires burning in the Sunni-dominated city. Artillery and small arms fire could be heard, as well as loudspeakers calling firefighters into action.

The fighting was centred on the Golan slum neighbourhood where a US marine was killed in fighting on Monday.

The fierce clashes erupted at the end of a two-day ceasefire aimed at bringing an end to the three-week siege of the city by US-led forces.

Falluja, part of the Sunni triangle west of Baghdad, has been tense since the killing of three US security contractors at the end of March.

US commanders denied that the fighting indicated an end to the siege and the commencement of an all-out offensive, and insisted they would continue with negotiations. The professed US military aim remains the introduction of joint Iraqi-US foot patrols in the city of 200,000.

Moments before reports of the fighting emerged, the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, told a Pentagon briefing that military commanders in Falluja did not intend to give up on a negotiated end to the siege. "They see sufficient prospects that it leads them to believe that this is a useful thing to be doing," he said.

But leaflets dropped in the city by US forces during the day seemed to suggest that US forces were nearing their endgame. "Surrender, you are surrounded," the leaflets said. "If you are a terrorist, beware, because your last day was yesterday. In order to spare your life, end your actions and surrender to coalition forces now. We are coming to arrest you."

While American commanders indicated that they were keen to avoid a repeat of the intense fighting that swept Falluja in early April, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi expressed dismay at the renewal of hostilities.

"There is little doubt that many lives have been lost and much suffering has been endured by civilians," he told a briefing at the UN in New York.

"You have also seen on the television screens, yesterday, images of yet another mosque which had taken a direct hit. Reports today of attacks from and on a mosque are a source of shock."

Unless a peaceful end was found to the fighting in Falluja, he said, "there is great risk of a very bloody confrontation".

The coalition, he added, "know as well as, indeed, better than everyone else, that the consequences of such bloodshed could be dramatic and long-lasting."

The fighting in Falluja, which lasted at least two hours, was matched by clashes in the Shia city of Najaf, where the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has taken refuge with his militia. US army sources said 64 militia fighters were killed in clashes with US troops. There was also fighting in Baghdad. One US soldier was killed bringing the US army total dead in April to 115.